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Friday, 30 November 2012

Racist abuse charges have been brought against a
football club by its local FA after a heated under-15s match ended in a
pitch invasion.

Parents, players and coaches from Leicester Nirvana reported fans of
Blaby and Whetstone FC, also in Leicestershire, for making monkey noises
and gestures towards several youngsters and for racist comments.
It was alleged Blaby and Whetstone supporters invaded the pitch threatening violence.
Leicestershire and Rutland County FA has now charged Blaby and
Whetstone FC with failing to control its fans and for the supporters'
alleged racist abuse of opposing players.
A player from the club has also been charged with making racist
comments after the game and posting comments on Twitter that were
offensive on grounds of faith.
In addition, the local FA has charged the match referee with failing to report disciplinary issues from the game.John Terry was given a four-match ban by the FA for Anton Ferdinand racism
Two players from Leicester Nirvana have also been charged with making
comments on Facebook after the game. There was no racist element to
those posts.
Kirk Master, the chairman of Leicester Nirvana FC, welcomed the charges
and said that over the club's 30-year history it had suffered
significant problems with racist abuse.
He told Sky News: "Racism exists. That's quite apparent. It exists at
national level, at professional level and at grass roots level. We are
victims of that abuse and have been in the past, and we've come to the
view that enough is enough.
"Young people will not and do not have to accept that level of abuse."
Following the incident on October 21, campaigner Peter Herbert, of the
Society of Black Lawyers, said: "Such humiliating scenes demonstrate the
ugly repercussions that the Suarez and John Terry incidents have at a
local level.
"The failure of the FA to hand out severe penalties clearly serves to encourage such behaviour."
John Terry, the Chelsea player, received a four-match ban and a £220,000 fine for his comments to Anton Ferdinand.
Luiz Suarez, the Liverpool player, was given an eight-match ban and a
£40,000 fine for racist abuse of the Manchester United player Patrice
Evra.